ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Tuesday, September 20th, the Sonoma State men's golf team concluded round three of the 2022 NCAA Regional Preview hosted by SSU at the local Foxtail Golf Club. After making their 9th straight NCAA West Regional appearance during the 2021-22 season, head coach Val Verhunce and his squad looked to get things started on the right foot in their first event of the season. 

After a slow 2-under start through their first two rounds, the Seawolves would explode at their home course for an incredible 12-under team performance to catapult them four spots on the final day.   

ROUND 1 & 2 | 287 (-1), 287 (-1):

On day one of the NCAA Regional Preview, all teams would embark on the grueling 36-hole opening day which left Sonoma State in the middle of the pack at the six spot at 2-under. First year player Colin Huang would make his impact felt for the Seawolves as he got his first collegiate start this week. The sophomore out of Newport Beach would record back-to-back rounds under par to carry the team through the first day of competition. Huang recorded a 68 (-4) in his opening round and led SSU with seven total birdies, birding three of his final four holes. 

Senior and All-CCAA First Team recipient Griffin Pace recorded a 72 even par in his opening round, finishing with four birdies. Nick Friedman and Colin Huang would bounce back again with the only two rounds under par for SSU in the second round, allowing the Seawolves to finish with back-to-back 1-under rounds to conclude the first day alone in 6th place.     

ROUND 3 | 276 (-12):

No stranger to comebacks, Val Verhunce and his squad would do just that in the final round as the team made up a whopping 11 strokes to come back and win the tournament title on a 5th player tie breaker! All four counting scores from Seawolf players came in at even par or better, with three players recording rounds of 4-under par. Griffin Pace, Colin Huang, and Sean Markham all recorded rounds of 68 (-4). 

Down two strokes and with just two combined holes to play, veterans Griffin Pace and Nick Friedman would each birdie almost simultaneously to conclude their rounds and jump SSU to -14 and into a tie with Western New Mexico. The tournament tie breaker would come down to the 5th player in the final round, Lucas Happy. Happy finished 74 (+2) today, also tying Western New Mexico's 5th player score, forcing the tie break to the same player's second round score. A 76 (+4) from Happy in his second round yesterday would best Western New Mexico's 5th player  by just one stroke, giving the Seawolves the outright victory!   

As a team, Sonoma State finished the final round with a 276 (-12), good for the lowest round by any team this week. Pace would jump 13 spots and finish t-10th individually while first year player Colin Huang stole the show and shot a 206 (-10), finishing t-2nd individually. He would once again lead the team with six birdies in his final round of the tournament. 

"What a gutsy showing by our guys this week. We knew we left strokes out on the course yesterday and were ready for a low round today. There is a lot of potential with this group and we're off to a good start so far this season" (HC, Val Verhunce). 

The team's 12-under final round goes down as a top-5 finish for lowest team rounds in program history. 9 of the team's 12 participants finished the final round with a 2-over performance or better.  

SSU INDIVIDUALS:

Sophomore returner Aidan Oliver led all individuals in the tournament after the first two rounds, posting a 74 (+2) in his first round and then a 69 (-3) to finish the day t-13th overall. He would finish as the Seawolves best individual, t-18th. Cal State East Bay transfer Moses Greene made his first appearance as a Seawolf this week and finished t-20th after the first two rounds of action. His opening round 71 (-1) would go down as his low of the week. 

Jules Lavigne would finish just behind Greene in a tie for 27th with a final score of 219 (+3). Alec Padilla, Trent Colombe, and Ryan Stewart would all finish inside the top-60 individually with second year player Charles Taylor rounding out the scoring in a tie for 64th place. 

Sonoma State will soak up their first team title of the 2022-23 season and then gear up and head to Chico State on October 9th for their next event. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation